


Wraith

by PoliticalPadmé (magnetgirl)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Dark Magic, Implied/Referenced Incest, M/M, Skywalker Family Feels, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:05:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8599192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/pseuds/PoliticalPadm%C3%A9
Summary: Kylo is so obsessed with Anakin that he finds magic to resurrect him; Hux goes to Luke for help





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serenityabrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenityabrin/gifts).



> I haven't written Kylo or Hux before so I hope this is okay -- but I love all the twisty, messy Skywalker family issues (and lack of boundaries), too, so I wanted to try!

“Don’t take one more step.”

Hux froze, and slowly raised his hands.

“I’m--”

“I know who you are,” the angry -- female -- voice interrupted.

“I’m not here with the First Order,” he explained. “I’m alone. No one knows I’m here.” An arrangement he was reconsidering now a lightsaber was pointed at his throat.

“He’s telling the truth, Rey,” a new voice joined the conversation. “I believe we should listen.”

The saber wavered inches from his skin as its handler struggled with her decision, but finally lowered and dimmed. Hux turned slowly to face the two Jedi. The girl stood ready to pounce, angry eyes fixed on his every move. But the man appeared at ease, hands clasped beneath long sleeves, patiently waiting with an expression of mild interest.

“Are you Luke Skywalker?”

The man nodded. Hux took a step closer. The girl tensed but Hux ignored her, focused entirely on Luke, and the reason he’d come.

“I need your help.”

***

“I need your help.”

“What planet do you represent?”

Kylo frowned. “It’s a personal matter.”

“I see.” Anakin crossed his arms. “With the war we have to prioritize but…”

Kylo’s eyes narrowed. He heard the word ‘prioritize’ in his mother’s voice.

“...if I can.”

Kylo blinked. “What?” He’d gotten distracted by childhood memories and missed what his grandfather said.

Anakin sensed a lot of turmoil in the man before him. He seemed familiar, too, but Anakin couldn’t place why. “How can we help?”

Kylo twitched. “We?”

“The Jedi,” clarified Anakin.

A vision of Luke appeared in Kylo’s mind, broadcast to Anakin as well. _He was standing in a field, guiding rocks into a tower with the Force as his young nephew watched, face screwed up in concentration._

Some secret tickled Anakin’s mind but he couldn’t quite see it. He didn’t recognize the man before him, or the man he’d pictured in his mind. But they did vaguely resemble Jedi.

“I don’t need any help from the Jedi,” Kylo answered, bitterness apparent in his voice.

Interesting, thought Anakin. “The Republic?”

This got an even stronger reaction. _A woman dressed in white and silver addressed a crowded hall. The same boy from the other vision -- Anakin understood it was the man himself -- watched her from the wings._

“ _No._ ”

Anakin frowned. There was so much anger. . . perhaps that’s why he felt so familiar. “You want...something from _me_.”

“Yes,” Kylo agreed. “I feel the anger flowing through you. How do you control it?”

Anakin looked away. “A Jedi’s strength--”

“Don’t quote Jedi nonsense at me!” Kylo shouted. “I don’t want to suppress my passion! I want to feel it. I want to use the anger and hatred and--”

“Suffering,” whispered Anakin, disturbed.

“The Jedi are weak,” Kylo spit the word at the incarnation of his grandfather. Yet another disappointment it appeared. This Anakin exuded compassion. He had to tap into the fear and frustration that would eventually birth Vader. “And politicians are worse. They’re all afraid to make hard choices and do what’s required to create peace."

Anakin’s eyes were wide, and haunted. “I don’t think I can help you.”

Kylo grabbed his wrist and pulled him close. “Tell me about the Dark Side.”

“I don’t know who you think--”

Kylo pressed his lips over Anakin’s in a violent kiss. Anakin shoved him away with the Force, knocking Kylo off his feet. He hit the ground with a thud -- and a dark smile.

“That’s who I think you are.”

***

“That’s who I think you are.”

Having said her piece, Rey stormed away. Maybe -- probably -- Luke was going to help save his nephew from himself but she didn’t have to be a part of it. 

“Is she right?”

Hux blinked. “What?”

“Is she right?” Rey had attacked their guest with a colorful litany of sins and attributes. “Is that who you are?”

The young general glared. “I believe in order.”

“The First Order?”

“ _Order_! Not chaos. Justice, and rule of law, and…” He shook his head. He didn’t have to justify his beliefs to two wizards on an island.

“Hierarchy,” suggested Luke.

“Yes.”

“You are in a position of power.”

“Yesss,” he slurred, not liking where this was going.

“You brainwash children to fight in your army.” One of them Rey’s friend, and the most likely reason for her ire.

“Is it better to create a race of soldiers whose only purpose is to die?” Hux was tired of this debate in particular. “My stormtroopers are no different than the Jedi of the Old Republic.” It was a bedtime story when he was small, one he was happy to weaponize.

Luke’s eyes darkened, but he remained -- annoyingly -- calm. “You split off from the Republic because it lacked order.”

“Yes.” Hux threw up his hands. “Everyone talked and no one listened. There were too many voices with too many opinions and no regard for objective truth. Nothing ever gets done in that type of system. We may as well have no government if all they do is argue.” He caught Luke’s expression. “You’re laughing at me!”

“No. I’m not.” Luke smiled. “You remind me of someone.”

“An imperial no doubt,” Hux scoffed.

Luke shook his head, still smiling. “My sister.”

Hux sat down abruptly. He had no idea how to feel.

***

He had no idea how to feel. The charred helmet resonated, giving at least some weight to the strange man’s claims. He could feel visions picking at his consciousness. If he closed his eyes, they would flood his mind. So he sat, unblinking, staring at the remains of a monster he feared was his future.

“Tell me everything.” Perhaps it wasn’t too late, perhaps this was only a possible future and he could stop it ever coming to pass.

“Darth Vader was the most powerful force in the galaxy. Having destroyed the corrupt Jedi Order he alone wielded the Force as a dark lord of the Sith.”

Anakin felt sick.

“What about Obi-Wan?”

“Who?”

“Obi-Wan Kenobi. My…” Mentor. Brother. Lover. Best friend.

“Oh, Kenobi.” Kylo had been raised to revere the man whose name he was given, but he was as weak as the rest of them. “He died. You killed him.”

Anakin looked stricken. “I wouldn’t.”

“He tried to kill you first, and nearly succeeded. But you grew stronger. That’s when it happened.”

“When what happened?”

Kylo’s eyes glowed with eagerness. “You cut off the Light Side completely.”

The helmet burned his hands with a phantom heat; Anakin thrust it across the room.

“None of this makes sense. Obi-Wan wouldn’t -- and I can’t have killed all the Jedi.” There were hundreds, spread out across the galaxy. “What about Ahsoka? She’s my padawan. She wouldn’t turn against me.”

Kylo didn’t recognize the name. “The Jedi turned against the Republic so they were all killed by the state.”

“What?” Turned against the Republic? But they were the first line against the Separatists. “What about--”

“I don’t have time to play what about all your dead friends!” his impatient grandson shouted. “They’re dead. All of them. Kenobi. Yoda. Organa. The girl...the queen….”

“...Padmé...” Anakin whispered.

“Padmé,” Kylo echoed. “Amidala.”

Tears streamed down Anakin’s face. Rage burned in his chest. He stood, drew and lit his weapon in one swift motion, and pointed it menacingly at Kylo Ren.

“Send me back. _Now._ ” He would fix this. He would fix it all.

Kylo felt an incredible wrath streaming off his visitor. It infused the air that surrounded them. It was thick and hot and he smelled sulfur.

“Darth Vader,” he said with reverence.

“Anakin Skywalker.”

Anakin and Kylo turned to peer at the intruder. Luke nodded.

“And Ben Solo.”

Kylo scowled. “You’re too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Luke answered.

“What about ‘once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny’?”

Luke’s eyes were sad. “That was Yoda’s teaching. It was never mine.” Kylo’s scowl darkened.

“Who are you?” Anakin demanded.

Luke turned his attention to the father he never knew, who didn’t know him. “I’m Luke. I was Ben’s teacher.” He glanced at the man, looking for the boy he knew. “I failed him.”

“Are you a Jedi?”

Luke nodded.

“So they’re not all dead?”

Luke took a deep breath. “Ben Kenobi hid me from the Sith and...when I was ready, he trained me.” He felt the Force reaching between them. Perhaps Obi-Wan was giving it a push from the other side. “After his death, and Master Yoda’s, I was the last. And I hoped the first.”

Anakin followed Luke’s gaze to Kylo Ren.

“The Jedi are weak,” he sneered at them both.

Anakin deactivated his lightsaber. “The Dark Side is the path of the weak.”

Kylo growled. “You were the most powerful man in the galaxy!”

“Not if I gave in to the Dark Side!” roared Anakin. “Darth Vader sounds like a coward! Hiding behind machines that can destroy planets! Wearing a mask to hide his scars! Powerful men don’t have to inhabit the bodies of monsters from a child’s nightmare! Darth Vader is a bully who understands nothing of power or strength!”

He threw his lightsaber at the helmet and it crumbled to dust.

Kylo stared in open mouthed shock.

Hux stood as still as possible, hoping they all continued to ignore him.

Luke wished Leia was there to see it.

Anakin turned to Luke. “Who’s Leia?”

The answer caught in Luke’s throat.

“My mother,” said Kylo. Anakin turned to meet his eyes. “Your daughter.”

Tears sprung to Anakin’s eyes unbidden. A daughter!

“Please…” he entreated Luke and Kylo both, “please tell me about her!”

A hundred visions clouded the room, but neither man could speak.

“She’s the most powerful woman in the galaxy,” said Hux. The other three men turned to stare at him. “Born into the Rebellion against the Empire. Alderaan’s last princess. She was nominated First Senator of the New Republic but withdrew when her parentage was revealed. She then resigned from the Senate and formed the Resistance.” Hux straightened, looked each man in the eye in turn. “She is considered the First Order’s most dangerous enemy. It’s important to know my enemies as well as I know myself.”

Anakin turned to Luke. “Can I see her? My daughter?”

Luke lowered his eyes.

“You can’t leave this room,” answered Kylo. “I tethered you to the helmet and…” Now it was dust.

Anakin frowned. “Can you send me back? So I can stop this?”

Everyone was silent.

“Please…” begged Anakin.

“You’re not really here,” explained Luke. “You’re an echo. A piece of Anakin Skywalker that Ben was able to conjure into something corporeal.” Anakin glanced at his hands, already starting to fade. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” echoed Kylo. “I’m sorry, grandfather. I didn’t understand.”

Anakin shook his head. What good did sorry do?

“Tell my daughter,” he pleaded. “Tell Leia. Tell her I love her. I’ve always loved her.” Tears streamed down his face. “And I loved her mother. More than I could ever say. Tell her,” he focused on Luke. “Please. Promise to tell her.”

Luke pressed his lips to Anakin’s. He didn’t plan to, it was instinct. He wanted this small part of the man he’d always wanted to know to feel loved. To know, beyond a doubt, _he was loved_.

“I promise,” he whispered against Anakin’s lips. And the wraith disappeared.

Hux looked from Luke to Kylo. “What now?”

***

“What now?”

Leia was tired. She felt at least twenty years older than she was, and she wasn’t so young anymore.

“The Millennium Falcon just landed.”

Any response was caught in Leia’s throat, but she ran from the room to greet -- whoever it may be.

Rey was first down the plank. She gave Leia a smile, and touched her hand briefly as she passed, but her eyes were on Finn, recovered and waiting, and she ran into his arms. Chewbacca was second and made his way to embrace Leia. She never felt so safe as in the Wookie’s arms. He pulled away with a comforting growl and revealed the scene behind him.

Her brother, her son, and a young man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in the universe.

Her eyes met Luke’s and he gave her an encouraging smile.

Her eyes met Ben’s and he burst into tears. Leia ran to embrace him and they cried in each other’s arms, Luke beside, watching over both.

Poe trained a blaster on Hux, standing awkwardly off to the side of the family reunion. “What’s your story?”

Hux took a deep breath. “I’d like to join the Resistance.”


End file.
